Recognized for his administrative skills and leadership qualities, Bowlus had gained university-wide support for athletics at his retirement in 1989. Committed only to the highest standards of excellence, his efforts as athletic director led to an expanded budget, staff and facilities, including a $4 million fieldhouse addition that is recognized as a model of its kind. He was guided by what was best for the student athlete.
Bowlus passed away Aug. 26, 2020.
MENOMONIE (September 25, 2020) - The legacy Warren Bowlus left at UW-Stout was about as long as the title that he carried when he was first hired in 1981 - Chairperson-Director of the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics (HPERA).
Boil all those educational terms and titles down and Bowlus served as UW-Stout's athletic director and director of physical education from 1981 to his retirement eight short years later in 1989. Bowlus passed away Aug. 26, 2020, at the age of 90 at home in The Villages, Florida, of post-coronavirus pneumonia.
An article that appeared in The Stoutonia in 1988 just a couple of months before Bowlus' retirement stated, "Bowlus' smooth management style, smooth business sense and warm personable manner have succeeded in boosting Stout athletics to new heights and endeared him to faculty, fellow employees and students alike."
Rita Slinden, who was an instructor, coach, and administrator during Bowlus' tenure added the term "personal friend" to her association with Bowlus and his family.
"There are many special memories from the years I worked with Warren," said Slinden. " He was a hard working athletic administrator who wanted to promote excellence for everyone involved in UW-Stout Athletics - men, women, coaches, athletes, support personnel, fans, families, and community members.
"For me personally, he was a good mentor, supervisor, and friend. To my family, he and his wife, Marcia, were always "Uncle Warren and Aunt Marcia."
The 1980s were somewhat tumultuous times for athletic programs. Collegiate women's sports were sprouting out of the beginnings from the 70s and starting to stand toe-to-toe with the traditional men's programs. Bowlus worked to build up the women's programs at Stout.
Mark Thomas, who coached the women's basketball program for 31 years, was hired by Bowlus in 1987 and the women's basketball program would go on to gain national stature.
"Warren was a great mentor for a young coach," Thomas said. "He made a commitment to grow the program and make women's athletics important in the footprint of athletics at Stout. He was a great man that always had time to listen and to help fight for making things better for everyone and always valued the importance of the impact athletics made for our student-athletes.
"His vision for excellence and leadership helped vault Stout athletics into bigger and better things. Personally what I valued most from Warren was his honesty, support and loyalty for working hard for our student athletes. He was a great man that left a legacy."
A project Bowlus inherited was an addition to what is now the Sports and Fitness Center. The addition was in the planning stages, but was delayed several times.
In a 1981 Dunn County News article, Bowlus said, "For a university of 7200, we don't even come close to the facilities we need to provide the best program we can."
Bowlus pushed the project through. The $4.5 million project included adding a multi-purpose room with a 200-meter indoor track that included tennis and basketball courts in the infield, a new weight room, four racquetball courts, additional classrooms, offices, and locker room space. Completed four months ahead of schedule, the addition was dedicated Oct. 1, 1988, only months before Bowlus retired.
Bowlus' legacy lives on at Stout. The Blue Devil track and field program has been hosting the two-day Warren Bowlus Open annually since 1991. The Blue Devil football team has annually presented the Burger King/Warren Bowlus Academic Achievement Award since 1988.
Bowlus' time at Stout was actually his second stint in the Menomonie area. Bowlus was the athletic director and head football coach at Menomonie High School during the 1950s, coming to Menomonie in 1954 and taking the 1957 Menomonie football team to a 7-0-1 overall record. It would be 40 years before the program again went undefeated in 1997. Bowlus' three-year record at Menomonie was 18-12-2
In addition to coaching football throughout his career, the Milwaukee native coached swimming, baseball and wrestling at some point during his high school and collegiate coaching career. Having coached at the Division I level, Bowlus had a preference for coaching and working at Division III schools.
"This is the way it should be," Bowlus said in the article announcing his retirement. "Here we find a program to meet the kids' needs, instead of the other way around; Stout has a well-rounded, diversified program in all areas with the emphasis on academics first."
Around 300 people from the Stout and surrounding communities showed up when the University hosted a retirement banquet in Bowlus' honor in late 1988.
Bowlus and his wife, Marcia, retired to the West Coast, living in both the San Diego, Calif., and Seattle, Wash., areas before moving to Florida. The couple was married nearly 70 years before Warren's passing. In 2006, both Warren and Marcia visited with and cheered on the Blue Devil women's basketball team when the team advanced to the third round of the NCAA Division III tournament at Pacific Lutheran University in Tacoma, Wash.
Obituary for Warren Coleman Bowlus
Warren Bowlus
Warren Coleman Bowlus, born July 3, 1930, in Milwaukee Wisconsin to John Lisles Bowlus and Hazel Robinson Bowlus died at age 90 on August 26, 2020, at home in The Villages Florida of post-coronavirus pneumonia.
He is survived by his wife Marcia Gay Bowlus of The Villages Florida, their daughter Linda Warner and her husband Dennis Warner of The Villages Florida and their children Jason Warner, Cassandra Warner-Edwards, and Brianna Warner, and also by their son William Bowlus-Root and his husband Paul Bowlus-Root of Yuma Arizona.
He was preceded in death by his parents, his half-brother William Nicholson and half-sisters Jane Cocking and Virginia McKee, and his grandson Taylor Warner.
Dr. Bowlus was an accomplished competitor, known for his professionalism and integrity, whose caring and steady influence guided many young men and women to better lives. He loved his wife of nearly 70 years and his children and their spouses and their children and grandchildren as well as the many students and athletes he challenged to do their best – be their best – not only on the playing field but in every aspect of their daily lives.
After graduating from the University School of Milwaukee in 1948, Warren earned his Bachelor's degree in Physical Education at the UW-La Crosse and later his master's at the University of Colorado and his doctorate at Indiana University. He taught and coached Wisconsin high school football at Kendall, Hayward, Menomonie, and West Bend high schools, where he lead his teams to numerous conference championships. He then coached football at Western Illinois University, gaining widespread esteem among prominent coaches nationwide.
Dr. Bowlus served as Athletic Director for Davenport City Schools where he built stronger physical education and sports programs for students K-12, most notably overseeing the full implementation of sports for young women under the new Title IX. Later, as the Assistant Superintendent for Non-Academic Programs, he extended his impact even more broadly. He went on to serve as the Chairperson/Director of the Department of Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Athletics at UW-Stout for eight years before retiring in 1989. He was inducted into the Stout Hall of Fame the following year and now has a major annual men's and women's track meet hosted there as well as an academic achievement award for football players named in his honor.
Warren had a natural ability to establish a rapport with students of both genders and across all age groups that earned their respect and admiration and allowed him to lead them to maximize their own potential. He was highly respected by his athletes and his fellow coaches who responded well to his enthusiasm – and also his discipline – because they knew he had set high goals for them, and himself, and would drive to achieve them. He guided numerous candidates to successful collegiate and professional careers. In a career spanning 32 years, Dr. Bowlus was able to attract and hire the best teaching and coaching staffs to maintain a quality educational experience for his students and he expanded the physical education facilities where needed. His contributions to athletics on the local, conference, state, and national levels were well recognized and valued by the communities he touched.
But sports were not the only things in his life. Warren was a devoted husband and father, spending as much time with his family as he could. And he loved to travel. Each summer, the family would take long camping trips exploring the country, exposing his children to the wonders of the geography and cultural diversity of the nation, lessons they would carry with them throughout their lives. Later, he and Marcia would sample the richness of the world on cruises and tours all over Europe, Asia, and the Americas. They spent their retirement years first in sunny San Diego, then near Bill and Paul in Issaquah Washington, and finally living with Linda and Dennis in The Villages Florida.
Warren Bowlus led a long and fruitful life, one with a solid legacy that will continue to grow stronger through the achievements of those he guided and coached. By his family and those he influenced, he will be celebrated and missed.
ADDENDUM
In an Aug. 12, 1981, Dunn County News article, Bowlus talked about his 1957 undefeated Menomonie High School team.
"That was probably one of the more enjoyable bunches. Their goals were the same as ours. They wanted to go undefeated," Bowlus told Dunn County News sports editor Jerry Poling.
"I remember we got the devil scared out of us in the first game. We went up to Rice Lake, I think, and tied 7-7. I don't think anybody came close to us the rest of the year.
"People recall that club as being a really offensive team. When I left here, I became a defensive-minded coach. That club could really run the ball. We ran a split-T as I remember," Bowlus said.
Bowlus pulled back names. The quarterback was Bob Bundy and Mike Donaldson one of the backs. Other names: Gary Buss, Pete Noreen, Mike Henry, Chuck Schroeder, Bob Schroeder, Bob Ott, Dave Sjuggerud.
"Ten of the 11 players on that team went on to play college ball," said Bowlus.
Bowlus remembers when he started the Indians' (now Mustangs) wrestling program.
"We bought a mat for $100 from Luxemburg and went down there with a truck to get it. I didn't know a thing about wrestling. We used to practice in the fifth floor (of the old high school, which was located next to UW-Stout's Bowman Hall). After a while we got so tired lugging the mat up and down, we opened the windows and threw it out."
